Monday, December 15, 2008

Quotes of the day

... I came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity, as we are made to believe, but the maturing of the human soul.--Alexander Solzhenitsyn

If Blagojevich is guilty, the best thing that could happen to him is to be tried and convicted. He's going to have to reach rock bottom -- just as I did -- before he will be able to escape his own prison of pride, self-delusion and self-righteousness. But that's a transformation we can never accomplish on our own. I can vouch for the fact that human pride is simply too strong.--Chuck Colson

Running a billion dollar Ponzi scheme has to be very time consuming. Running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme by yourself, at age 70? ... I don’t think it can be done.--Barry Ritholtz

... government actions and interventions caused, prolonged, and worsened the financial crisis.--John Taylor

After all, the UAW was perfectly willing to negotiate their compensation package--in 2011, when their current contract expires. ... And I think that's perfectly reasonable. We'll just wait until 2011 to give them the money, then.--Megan McArdle

With great foresight, I long ago entered the mattress business in a big way through our furniture operation. Now mattresses have become fully competitive as a place to put your money, and sales will soon take off.--Warren Buffett, on 0% yielding treasuries

Why do governments so often let inflation get out of control? Because they can profit from it. Seignorage is the process in which governments implicitly tax their citizens by printing money.--Charles Wheelan

I prayed to the Lord this morning to please keep me humble, and not say too many negative things about Oakland.--LaMont Jordan, on playing his former team